The Truth Behind the Bloom
by masterdianemuhaha
Summary: Sakura leaves the village after some unfortunate news. Six years later, she's back and more powerful than ever. Can she prevent the collapse of Konoha from a brewing political storm? Or will she just be another petal blown away in the wind? M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Kiba cursed as he came upon the cliff. Dead-end. Akamaru whimpered in distress next to him. The large gashes covering them poured blood onto the dirt, leaving an obvious trail. Kiba's chakra reserves were practically depleted; they were several days away from the nearest shinobi village; and they had about five enemy nin following them. Kiba glanced at Akamaru and the two nodded. If they were going to go down, they'd go down fighting and take whoever killed them with them.  
Thus resolved, they ground their heels into the ground. Facing the forest from which the nin would burst forth. One. Two. Three. Four. Five!  
The five nin burst out of the forest. They charged them directly, three at Akamaru and two at Kiba. Kiba and Akamaru stayed exactly in the same place until the last moment. Then, using the last of their chakra and taijutsu as a shield, they spun around each other quickly. Finishing their spin, Kiba's grin fell as he realized.  
There were no bodies. Only a succession of "poof" noises. Oh Crap. His brain said as the real attack raced towards them. Chakra depleted, Kiba's eyes closed as they seem to come in slow motion. The last thing he saw or heard before the world went black was a black and pink blur and a scream.  
As he fell unconscious, a milky white blade destroyed five nin at once.  
The swordsman's emerald green eyes flashed.

* * *

Tsunade leaned back in her chair. The reports were finally finished. It had taken her two long, torturous weeks. Her hand hurt, her brain hurt, and she needed sake. Bad. Her eyes swept around her office, hoping to find a stray bottle. Instead, her eyes found something peculiar. Quite peculiar indeed.

In her office there existed five desks. The two in the anteroom on either side of the door belonged to Izumo and Kotetsu, her two scribes. One desk in her office which sat perpendicular to the left of her desk belonged to Shizune, her assistant and head medic. Her own desk was on the side of the office whose wall was completely windows, facing the door. Perpendicular to the right of her desk, however, was another desk.  
The solid mahagony of the desk, the comfortable swivel chair, the sophisticated desk lamp did not set the desk apart from the rest.  
What set it apart was that it had belonged to someone quite dear to Tsunade. Her apprentice, Sakura Haruno.  
Her apprentice who had not sat in her desk since she had learned the truth about her past.  
So why was there a single cherry blossom petal and a bottle of sake on the otherwise pristine desk?

* * *

Ino wiped the sweat from her brows. It had been a long day. Ibiki Morino, the head interrogator and her mentor, had used her abilities to the fullest. From cracking the minds of S-class criminals to fetching coffee, she had been thoroughly worked. She pulled her platinum blonde hair out of its sagging ponytail and shook it out. When was the last time she had taken a break? Ino's eyes dimmed as she realized that there had been no reason to, not for a while. Ino Yamanaka was not one to laze about all day doing nothing. No, that was her fiance's job. Should she have taken a day off, it would've been to spend time with someone, But who? Her fiance, as much as he would've liked to, could not take the day off just to laze about, he was the village's head strategist. Her parents were busy in their own right. Choji Akimichi, her childhood friend, was busy with his wife and son. Hinata had taken over her clan. Tenten and Neji were on the same Anbu team and were currently dealing with some missing nin drug lord.

And her best friend? Well, she hadn't seen her since she'd found out that her best friend was apparently adopted.  
Sighing, she began to clean up her files to go home. Shikamaru, her fiance, and her didn't live together as her father wouldn't allow it until they'd married. Ino _had_ been sharing an apartment with her aforementioned best friend, until she left. Thankfully the apartment was actually way under their paychecks and even on one paycheck, Ino could live comfortably. As she picked up the last of her files, she noticed an envelope on top of them that hadn't been there this morning. The envelope looked incredibly formal. Ino hesitated, wondering if this was a trap, but decided against it. After all, if the envelope had gotten inside the office, most likely the sender could too.  
She opened the envelope. What was inside took her breath away. A crisp check for this month's rent sat in her hands. It wasn't the money that shocked her. It was the signature. Her best friend hadn't stepped foot in Konoha for six years. So why was there a check written by a Sakura Haruno sitting on her desk?

* * *

Hinata Hyuga glared at the council of elders, her killer intent barely restrained. If one had known Hinata about 8 years before, then they would've been shocked or amused at her change in personality. Eleven year old Hinata had been painfully shy and awfully insecure. Hinata had come a long way thanks to her friends. Particularly her first crush, her first love, and her role model.  
Her first crush had been Naruto Uzumaki. He was Konoha's number one loudmouth ninja. He was everything she was not. He had acted completely oblivious to her crush until they were 12, when he told her that he knew that she liked him, but that he also felt that she could do much better than him. He had always been more mature than anyone had given him credit for. After Hinata had gotten over her crush on him, the two had become good friends.  
Her first love was Kiba Inuzuka. Her first and last. She had had crushes before him, but the two of them were as perfect as it got. They were total opposites who had more in common than you would think. They both loved animals, poetry, reading, and singing. She had been nervous when she told Naruto about her relationship, but he had approved right away. Surprisingly, so had her cousin, Neji. Kiba had asked her to marry him a week before and HInata had been up to her neck in meetings with the elders, who simply refused to even consider Kiba. How had she gotten them to accept her relationship with Kiba in the first place? Oh yeah, _her_.  
She was Hinata's role model. She was confident, beautiful, strong emotionally and mentally, kind, powerful, politically savvy, and well loved by all. The elders would've killed to have her in the family. When Hinata had gone to her about the council, she had pulled some strings and gotten them to accept the relationship no problem.  
Hinata wished she could've gone to her again now.  
"We accept Kiba Inuzuka as you fiance on the condition that you, and your firstborn child who inherits the Byakugan will retain 'Hyuga' as your last name," the chairman of the council intoned.  
Hinata blinked.  
"You're allowing it? Just like that?" she asked, wondering if they had finally gone senile.  
"Your pink-haired friend had a few _words_ with us via summons," the man said, almost pouting, like a chastised child.  
Hinata, too shocked to speak, only nodded and walked out of the room. Once she reached her room, she sank down on the comfy bed. _Pink hair? _ She knew only one person who had _pink_ hair. But that was impossible. Her role model hadn't been in Konoha for years and the news of the Hinata's engagement had not reached the public, only Neji, Naruto, Kiba, and their families knew, but they wouldn't tell.  
But who else, other than Sakura Haruno, had both _pink_hair and could intimidate the entire Hyuga council of elders?

* * *

Kakashi Hatake smirked at the paper in his hands. Coach another genin team? Hell no. The one team Kakashi had taught had all become powerful ninjas, but through very little of his own training. Kakashi Hatake just wasn't cut out for companionship. His team, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno, had all proven that he definitely should not teach. Sasuke had end up deserting the village to train with the legendary snake sannin. Granted he had come back. Naruto ended up training with the legendary toad sannin. And Sakura, the one he had neglected the most? She had become the apprentice of the legendary slug sannin.  
She had had a habit of taking care of "her boys" as she had called them. And in her presence, Kakashi had allowed himself to become spoiled. She had always known when he needed a drink, when he needed an escort home after the drink, when he was reading too much, when he had forgotten to eat. She had taken care of it all. She had also been an avid reader like him.  
Few had bothered to get to know Kakashi well enough to know that it wasn't just Icha Icha that he loved. He genuinely liked to read. She had shared the same love.  
When he first found Sakura reading an Icha Icha book, he had been horrified. He had thought that somehow, he had corrupted her. Sakura had scoffed and told him that it was Ino thank-you-very-much who had given her a book as a prank and now Sakura was hooked. The two of them, Kakashi and Sakura, had established a habit of meeting on the first of the month and buying two copies of the new book together.  
Kakashi smiled under his mask as he remembered Sakura's reaction to his apparent "masochistic tendency to blame himself." She had thrown a fit. She told him that it was because of him that they learned their principles, their nindo, which had led them so far. And Kakashi had smiled and allowed her to give him a comforting hug. It had been the last time he saw her.  
They had not gone to buy those books together in six years.  
Kakashi set the papers down on his kitchen table, intending to return the assignment to Tsunade first thing in the morning. Instead, he was distracted by a book. There, in the middle of his kitchen table, on a bed of cherry blossom petals, was the new Icha Icha book.  
That was not what surprised Kakashi. Naruto, being Jiraiya's student, had often gifted Kakashi with the books as the years had gone by. What surprised Kakashi was the little pendant hanging out the side of the book. That pendant had been a limited edition Icha Icha pendant that he had wanted forever. The one time they sold them, however, Kakashi had had a mission and was unable to buy it. The only person that he had expressed his remorse to had been Sakura.  
So how did someone know to get him that exact pendant?

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha stared into his whiskey. The raven haired genius had had enough of the happy couples surrounding them. Although he would never admit it, as much as he hated seeing couples like Shikamaru and Ino and Neji and Tenten and Hinata and Kiba, he wished for what they had. For what his parents had had. That feeling of love and companionship; of total acceptance. Although his team and Naruto had given him plenty of love, and his fangirls made sure he never went without "companionship" when he wanted it, he wanted to be in love with someone.  
Sasuke groaned. Oh great, he sounded like a woman. His minds immediately flashed to a woman who had given him love and acceptance. The petty crush she had had on him had dissolved long ago, but she continued to see him as a brother. It had been up to her to kick the fangirls away.  
He hadn't seen her for six years. He remembered the week before she left. He remembered how she had known exactly what to do when she found him outside of her apartment at six in the morning. She had let him in. He had pushed her against the wall, smashing their lips together, him vaguely remembering that her roommate had been on a mission. She had let him kiss her unresponsive lips, let him run his fingers through her hair as she did nothing. Soon, his hunger turned to sorrow. As his tears fell, his eyes conveyed his vulnerability and apology. She smiled at him sadly and pulled him to lay on her couch, his head in her lap. She held him as he cried. She held him as he went from being the redeemed traitor, the last Uchiha, and the ice prince, to the little boy who had lost his family and blamed the wrong person. He had become the man who was _oh so lonely_ and _oh so tired_.  
That night, he had told her everything. He had told her about his father, his mother, his brother; about the years before the massacre. Everything. He had even told her about the silver haired little girl who had given him his first kunai, and how sad he had been when it had been lost at a festival.  
"Uchiha," the barman, a man well into his sixties, grouched, "Someone told me to give this to you last week. She said that it belonged to you."  
The man set down the object, wrapped carefully in leather, in front of Sasuke. He sighed, figuring it to be from some fangirl. He opened the wrapping with one hand nonchalantly. That nonchalance quickly vanished.  
In front of him was an ordinary kunai, like any other, except this one had in child's script, "Property of Sasu-kun." The exact name that the silver haired girl had called him. The only change was the tiny cherry blossom that was etched in near the base.  
Sakura Haruno was the only person who had known about this kunai and who would use a cherry blossom as her signature.  
But Sakura hadn't been in Konoha for years, had she?

* * *

Sai sat quietly in the tree. His eyes remained glued to the sketchpad in front of him. Life in Konoha had gotten boring lately. Dickless was too busy, Crow was absent, Jerkwad was depressed. And Ugly? Well he hadn't seen her for years.  
Sai's lips twitched thinking of her. She hadn't really been ugly, of course. He just enjoyed how angry she would get. It felt nice to have someone care about him enough to show that much emotion towards him. She had been the first person, particularly the first female, to treat him in such a sisterly/motherly manner.  
He missed her.  
He recalled the times when she would hit him over the head for being insensitive. And the times when she would smile.  
He remembered that day. years ago, when he was running out of paper in his sketchpad. He had been on his way to buy some more when she had shown up and grabbed him. She drug him around all day on various errands. By the time she let him go home, the store was closed. She had apologised profusely. He told her that it didn't matter.  
Speaking of which, his current sketchpad was also running out of paper. He would have to go to the store soon.  
He looked at the evening sky. Well now was a good time as any.  
He walked through the streets of Konoha, thinking about when the streets were happier.  
As he arrived in the art store, the clerk recognized him and brightened.  
"Ah, Mr. Sai, we have your order."  
Sai's eyebrows furrowed, he had not ordered anything.  
The man reached under the counter and pulled out a small, black, leatherbound notebook. Sai's breath caught in surprise. He opened the book to its first page.  
_Dear Asshole,_  
_Hope you like the notebook. Its pages are endless. No matter how much you draw or tear out, more pages will appear. _  
_Love,_  
_Ugly_  
Sai smirked as he read.  
Konoha would definitely be lively again. After all, Sakura Haruno was back.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki sighed, staring up at the skies. This was not a position you would find him in regularly. Although he was not the kind of immature brat he had been at 12, he still was extremely active. He preferred to keep himself busy. It was easier to work himself harder and harder than to think about things that hurt. Like _her_.  
She had been his first love. He had seen her one day in the playground at the tender age of seven. She was being bullied by a few older kids. She did nothing to stop them. They eventually grew tired of teasing her. Leaving her alone, they had spotted a much more suited target. A baby fox, a kit, had wandered close to them.  
The fox kit had not been received well by the kids. After the Kyuubi attack on their village, foxes had begun to dredge up bad memories. The kids, not understanding the cause behind their parents' concerns, had taken it to another level.  
They began to beat the fox kit with pebbles and sticks. The fox kit's whine of pain filled the air. Naruto had tensed, ready to intervene. The kids hated him anyway, so it didn't matter if he protected one of the hated fox species.  
Instead of Naruto stepping in, a pale body through herself in front of the kit. It was the girl from earlier. She shielded the fox kit despite the children's sharp kicks and harsh words. They soon grew tired of that too and left. She picked herself up and looked at the kit.  
"Now look here, you. See what happens when you leave your home? Now scamper off and get home!"the girl told the kit.  
The kit whined and nuzzle her hand in response, then ran off. And the girl got up and limped home as well.  
Naruto smiled. That had been the first time he had fell a little in love with her.  
Over the years he had fallen more and more in love with her.  
He remembered what had sealed the deal.  
She had been heartbroken. Her whole life was a lie. Nothing was the same. Her family had turned out to be liars. Her real family turned out to be dead. She had come to _his_ quiet place, the top of Hokage Mountain, to cry. He had witnessed her then, at her worst. Her makeup was running, her hair was disheveled, her clothing mismatched, and Naruto had thought to himself that she had never looked more beautiful, more human than she did at that moment. She told him about it all. About finding out she was adopted. About finding out she had family out west. About the couples surrounding her and how depressed it made her feel. About how she worried that she would never grow into her forehead and about how unnatural her hair was. About how no one would ever want her. About how helpless she felt about Sasuke. About what he had done to her the day before.  
She told him everything.  
That had also been the day she left.  
He remembered seeing her get up and walk away from where they had been sleeping.  
"Are you leaving?" no reply. He hadn't expected one.  
"Are you going to come back?" he had asked her. She looked at him and smiled softly.  
"When the skies rain golden sakura flowers." And she was gone.  
Naruto opened his eyes, not remembering closing them in the first place. Something had landed on his face as he lay there. He picked it up.  
A golden cherry blossom petal. His eyes widened.  
All around him the sakura trees had become golden and their rain of flowers showered him.  
He felt tears trail down his face.  
He lifted the petal to his lips and kissed it.  
"Welcome back Sakura."

* * *

An emerald eyed woman glanced at her three companions next to her and then at the familiars bringing up the rear with the chakra sling carrying two unconscious beings.  
Unexpectedly,she shivered. Her companions and the familiars looked at her in question. She shook her head, a wide smile on her face.  
"I'm coming Naruto."

* * *

Review Please!

I need names for two OC's

:)


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone,

I'm Diane.

I'm pretty new to FF so I apologize if I make mistakes. I'm still getting the hang of things.

Thanks for reading the prologue to my story!

To The Golden Lilys Secret:

I apologize for the spacing. When I had typed the prologue up, there had been spacing but somehow when I uploaded it, the spacing disappeared. I'll try to fix that.

I know it sounds unrealistic, but I wanted to get her good points out there. Don't worry, I'm not going to make her some kind of infallible heroine. She'll have plenty of faults, one of them being she cares about other people too much and therefore doesn't care about herself as much.

Also, I only chose people who would really have been sad that she left. I wanted to show that she had a great life in Konoha, but she also wore a mask. That's what Naruto's POV was supposed to do, show that she was good at acting like things were ok and to show that although everyone else had this amazing picture of her, she has issues as well.

Thanks for the names! :)

To Exleader75:

Once again, sorry about the spacing. :)

To FrenchMyToast:

Thanks! His backstory is going to be very important in chapters to come. :)

She didn't leave the village permanently. She just wanted to see her real family. Why she was so affected by finding out she was adopted?Why it took her so long to get back? Well, that will be explained later. :)

To Happiest Reader:

Thanks! Once again, sorry about the spacing. :(

To Emilylovesbooks:

Obviously I'm updating now, jkjk. I'll try to update at least once or twice a month, maybe more if I have time!

Everyone else:

THANK YOU! I love you guys! Cookies for all!

Thanks for reviewing! I obviously do not own Naruto.

...

Kohaku Akimiya was stressed. Stupid parents! So he was a twenty-seven year old jounin who was still unmarried? He didn't need the complications! He held no delusions about personal grandeur. He knew that while he was by no means a bad shinobi, he wasn't going to make ANBU elite anytime soon. Still though, he was in the peak of his career. Settling down was the last thing he wanted. Why, Rokumaru had settled down with a wife a year back and now look at him! He had gained weight and gotten rusty!

And now that he was on guard duty his mother had chosen to send various "eligible" women to him with things. Now the women she had sent had in her arms a seven course meal by the looks of it!

Now, being a man, Kohaku enjoyed having a lovely young woman wait on him and bring him lunch. But he was on guard duty! If his superiors saw him, he'd be screwed.

"Kohaku-kun! Your mother told me to bring you lunch. I thought that we could eat together," the woman, Shizuka, chirped. Kohaku cringed and opened his mouth.

Thankfully, a sudden gust of wind brought an end to Kohaku's dilemma, for the moment at least.

The jounin shielded both himself and Shizuka from the wind. As he looked up, ready to fight, he was met with an extremely odd sight.

In front of him stood four beautiful, yet deadly-looking, kunoichis. There could be no doubt of their kunoichi hood as all four were wearing hitai ite. The sight of four such kunoichi was not unusual when on guard duty. They were often returning from missions.

It was, however, to see them with four, no five, different animals and an unconscious ANBU.

The silver-haired woman closest to him looked at him.

"You! In the jounin vest! We need to see the Hokage."

Kohaku gulped. She had red eyes! She freakin' had RED eyes!

"Umm...yes sir- I mean maam! I apologize maam I didn't mean to imply that you looked like a man! I mean you're obviously a very beautiful woman!"

"Shut up! We'll get there ourselves. Just make sure that this retard and his dog end up at the hospital!" another one of the woman, with long golden hair and cerulean blue eyes snapped.

Kohaku squeaked in accord as the women dumped the ANBU and his dog at his feet and vanished.

He glanced at Shizuka. She had fainted.

Great. Just great.

...

Shizune rubbed her forehead. "Hokage-sama, no more sake."

Tsunade glared at her. "I was not drunk!"

"You said you saw a bottle of sake and a cherry blossom petal in the office just magically appear." Shizune deadpanned.

"I DID!" Tsunade whined, looking at Shizune beseechingly.

"Well then where is the bottle, huh?" The head of the hospital demanded.

Tsunade gave a sheepish laugh and looked away awkwardly. Years of experience with the woman had taught Shizune how to read between the lines.

"You drank it?" Shizune groaned, "It could've been poisoned!"

"It wasn't!" the older woman defended herself.

A sudden wind startled them out of their argument. The two women glared over at the interruption. Only to lose their train of thought.

A woman with brilliant emerald eyes stepped forward, smirking.

"Hi shishou, sempai. I'm back,"

...

Sasuke Uchiha smirked. This was not an unusual occurrence. In fact, there was a running bet on whether or not it was the expression he was born with.

The cause of his smug smirk this time was Shikamaru Nara. The cloud-watching genius shinobi was close to tearing his hair out. His normally calm brown eyes were blown wide with panic.

"So let me get this straight; you lost your wedding rings?" Sasuke asked the worried male.

"Yes!" Shikamaru sighed, "Ino picked them out from a catalogue, so when I was on a mission in Cloud, I picked them up. I got home and I was dead tired so I fell asleep after putting them on my dresser. The next morning, they're gone! So either they were stolen or put somewhere else!"

"When do you need them?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru scratched his neck nervously, "By threeish?"

Sasuke groaned, "You need them today?"

"Ino wants to see them...I've already put it off for two days."

"You didn't tell her?"

"Why the HELL would I tell her?"

"Who's telling who what?" asked a very curious Lee from the middle. The other two occupants of the room blinked in surprise.

"When did he get here?" asked Shikamaru.

"I don't know." replied Sasuke, debating whether or not to poke Lee with a stick to see if he was real.

"Yosh! I got here at 'You didn't tell her?'!" Lee yelled. The two genii cringed at the sheer volume.

"What do you want?" Sasuke snapped bluntly.

Lee blinked and seemed to remember all of a sudden why he was there, "Hokage-sama summoned the old Team Kakashi to her office in addition to Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten Murosaki."

Sasuke and Shikamaru traded a glance. That was nearly all of the village's elite their age. And almost everyone in Konoha 13.

What could be that important?

...

Ino Yamanaka landed in front of the Hokage's Tower, a puzzled frown on her lips. It wasn't like Tsunade to call them on such short notice in bulk unless there was bad news.

Ino hoped not. With the day she'd had, bad news was the last thing she needed. First, her alarm clock had ran out of batteries so she overslept. As she had overslept, she was late to work. And of all places to be late for, being late for one's job at the Intelligence, Interrogation, and Torture (IIT) Centre of Konoha was not one of them.

She cringed at what Morino-shishou had put her through.

"Ino!" a familiar shape came into Ino's field of vision, Tenten Murosaki. The brunette had definitely changed from when she was 13. Instead of wearing her hair in two little buns, she wore it long and french braided. Although typically braids are frowned upon as it gives the opponent a handhold, Tenten's braid had a spike strap braided into it. If anyone tried to grab Tenten's hair, they'd find themselves dead of poisoning. Tenten also wore a long gold and green short-sleeved kimono over black ninja pants and carried a long knife.

"Tenten! You guys are back from your mission? Where's Neji? Why aren't you with him? How was the mission? Anything interesting happen?" Ino asked her brunette friend. Tenten rolled her eyes at the mention of the mission.

"Yeah; obviously; Neji's already up there; I had to go drop stuff off at home; the mission was completely boring." Tenten replied, well used to Ino's rapid-fire question round.

"Well, let's go up."

...

Neji Hyuga made sure his ANBU mask was secure before stepping into the Hokage's office. Surprisingly, Izumo and Kotetsu were absent from their desks, meaning that whatever had summoned him there, it was serious.

The door to the main room of the office was closed. Neji cautiously pushed open the door, mindful that the Hokage was prone to drunken violence under stress.

Instead of the Hokage drinking sake, a drastically different scene met his eyes. Tsunade was sober.

For once in his life, Neji Hyuga had seen his hokage completely sobered up, and immediately began to wish he hadn't.

Now the Hyuga's were a prideful clan. Neji, being the Hyuga clan prodigy, was especially so. Not as arrogant as say, Sasuke Uchiha, but about as talkative and emotional (outwardly) as him. So for the Hyuga to admit to anyone, even himself, that he was scared, was in itself scary.

You couldn't blame him though.

There definitely was enough reason to be scared.

A drunken, angry, stressed out Tsunade was horrible. A sober Tsunade was traumatizing.

She stood powerfully. Her back erect, posture perfect. Her amber eyes were deadly, frosted over ponds. Her hair was immaculate, not a strand of honey blonde out of place. She wore, for once, the robes of Hokage, and although they were voluminous enough to swallow her body shape, they were just as intimidating.

"Hyuga, no masks!" she barked out.

"I apologize Hokage-sama." Neji told her, holding his mask in his hand. It seemed that he was the first one there. He awkwardly stood in the corner of the room as neither said a word.

Thankfully, the others began arriving shortly. Neji was pleased to note reactions quite similar to his.

Finally, it looked like everyone was there.

"Where's Naruto?" asked Sasuke. Or not.

"It doesn't matter. We need to go now! Follow me!" Tsunade jumped out of the window with ease.

Taking glances at each other, the others followed suit. Tsunade led them through the village to one of meadows surrounding Konoha.

Neji instinctively activated his Byakugan as he sensed a genjutsu. He saw, the same thing as before. He looked at Kakashi and Sasuke and saw that the same was happening for them.

"You were right, as always." a female voice said. Neji looked up instantly.

The genjutsu slowly dissolved. Four females, dressed in cloaks, stood in front of them.

"Ai, did you honestly doubt her?" the woman in the shimmering silver cloak asked.

"I was hoping that she might prove infallible just this once." the woman in the sapphire cloak, Ai, answered.

"Such words about your princess? You speak high treason!" the woman wearing a dark red cloak sounded appalled, but with a teasing lilt to her voice.

"Now, now girls, calm yourself." the last woman, in her black and gold cloak, said. She pulled back her hood and there was a collective gasp at who was unveiled.

Amused emerald eyes stared at them out of a regal, porcelain face. Long silvery pink loose ringlets hung around her form, ending at her waist. She wore a gold halter top that was longer in the back, reaching her knees . Underneath she wore a pair of black pants that clung to her like second skin. On her feet were a pair of black boots with golden designs on them. Over her outfit she wore a long black robe that when closed, resembled a dress. Over it all was her black cloak with golden designs.

"Sakura." the Konoha nin breathed, not believing their eyes.

"Hello everyone. I am princess Sakura Wakahisa of Oshiro Country."

...

Tsunade was a woman who liked things straight and simple. It had not been her wish to break the news to them this way, but Sakura's powerful political standing made it imperative that they prepare for her first public appearance in Konoha.

When Sakura had appeared in her office like that, Tsunade had thought that everything could go back to some semblance of normality.

How naive.

When Sakura had left the leave on a sort of "extended" vacation six years back, all she had known was her family's location and a name of a family friend. On arriving at the location given to her, her world had been revamped.

Sakura didn't come from just any family, she came from the Wakahisa family.

Tsunade knew that Shikamaru, Hinata, and Neji would definitely understand the significance of Sakura's last name. The Wakahisa's were the ruling family of the Oshiro Country. Oshiro Country was one of the richest countries in the world. Their scholars were world-renowned. Their military was immense and incredibly famous for their feats. The nobles were infamous for their pure ability. They had the most kekkei genkai's than in any other country. Each noble family had their own, sometimes several.

And Sakura's family was more powerful than all that. The specifics of the Royal family were not well known but it was known that the Three Royal Siblings were deadly.

And Sakura was one of them.

One of the "immortal."

Oh, Lord.

Tsunade needed sake.

...

Sakura Haruno stared out at the assembled Konoha Nin. These people were the ones she had grown up with. They had seen her at her weakest. It had been a long six years away from them.

Ino was the first one to recover.

"FOREHEAD!" Ino rushed at her. Sakura laughed as Ino tackled her. The blonde had barely changed.

"Hey Ino"

"Where have you been? Do you realize how worried we were?" the blonde demanded. Sakura laughed.

"Yamanaka." Tsunade warned. Ino looked at her, confused. This was Sakura they were talking about. Tsunade's glare intensified. Ino sighed and returned to Tsunade's side.

Sakura smiled.

"I'm sure you all have questions. I would appreciate, however, if you would hold them until the end. As I have just told you, I am Sakura Wakahisa. You may address me as 'Sakura'. My companions are Yuuka Akitou," the woman in the silver cloak pulled the hood down to reveal equally silver hair and bright red eyes. She wore a silver and brown version of Sakura's outfit. On her back, she carried a long sword with a ruby hilt and sheath.

"Amaya Shoten," the woman in the dark red cloak threw her hood back and smirked. She had long curly golden hair and cerulean blue eyes. Her outfit was red and purple. She carried many weapons, the most noticeable being the ornate bow on her back.

"Aika Yamazaki," the girl in the sapphire cloak pulled her cloak down,revealing pitch dark black hair and golden eyes paired with a mischievous smile. She wore blue and green and carried two black long knives.

"We have traveled from Oshiro Country as a diplomatic delegation in order to improve the ties between Oshiro and Fire. But I suppose you would like to know my story first.

"To start off with, As you know, I was adopted by the Harunos at a young age. My biological parents died when I was young. I grew up here in Konoha, ignorant of this. A few years ago, I found out about this. I was upset. I felt like I didn't know who I was anymore. We truly are ignorant of how much our parents affect us. Who we are. What we like. Everything. Our fears, hopes, dreams, weaknesses, strengths are all determined through our interaction with them. And to find out that all of it was a lie, and that they were actually being paid to keep me away from the family I had left? I was heartbroken. I left the village. All I had was a name and a location.

"I journeyed on. Meeting different people and seeing things I never thought I would. Eventually, I found myself at my destination. A dingy little hovel at the outskirts of Oshiro. The man I met there was the one to reunite me with my family. He was a nobleman who had given up everything. Yet, as he knew my parents, he recognized me at once. He brought me to the capital where I took a blood test that confirmed it. I was the lost princess of Oshiro.

"I met my brothers. The two of them welcomed me with open arms and I spent the next few years learning how to be a princess and how to unleash my full ability. Along the way, I met and befriended these three and found my companion. Ryuunosuke Wakahisa and Tsubasa Wakahisa and I now make up the Three Royal Demon Siblings."

Sasuke furrowed his brow, "Companion?"

It was Amaya who answered him. "Every noble in Oshiro Country has the ability to choose an animal companion. For example, mine is Suzuna. Suzuna, come." A black panther crept out of the forest and stood next to her. "They can fight alongside you. Also, they can use a telepathic form of communication. Only with the others permission of course."

Aika stepped forward with a large siberian tiger. "Amaya forgot to mention that each of the companions wear a collar that is unremovable and is marked with their human's crest. See? Yoshirou has one in rubies with my crest on it."

"What about Sakura and Akitou-san?" Hinata asked.

The two in question turned and whistled. A large silver wolf jumped through the forest and landed next to Yuuka. "This is Raiden."

Everyone turned to look at Sakura who only smirked. All of a sudden, a large shape leaped landed right next to Sakura, but she didn't even flinch.

When the smoke had cleared, they could see the massive bright red fox standing next to Sakura. "Everyone, this is Akihiko, my companion."

The fox looked at the Konoha-nin with mischievous amber eyes.

Hiya!

Hinata, Ino, and Neji almost fainted.

Did the fox just talk?

Meanwhile, up in the trees, sky blue eyes looked on with amusement. A talking fox, huh? Nothing new to him. But Sakura, wow...

She had grown even more beautiful. He was in some weird way, proud of her. As if he had had anything to do with her transformation.

He looked down at the scene for a while before flashing away.

She would know where to find him.

**Okay everyone. That was Chapter Two! Hope you liked it! If not please tell me. **

**Actually, tell me if you liked it, loved it, hated it, wanted to kill it, etc. etc.**

**love,**

**Diane :)**

**P.S Review... come on, you know you want to **


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